A KING'S FAVOURITE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5371, 7 January 1929, Page 4

A KING'S FAVOURITE.

PLANE DE POITIERS. HER TWO ROYAL LOVERS. When she was. nearly sixty years of ag,e Diane de Poitiers— Or, as Miss Helen W. Henderson, retaining the old spelling, prefers to call her in the title of her book, “Dianne de Poytiers”—was still the favourite ot Henri 11., King of France. She was more than Queen. The great Catharine de’ Medici was only the wife of the King. Diane 'held his heart, as she had held it for a quarter of a century. Moreover, Henri, save for perhaps a couple of peccadilloes, was al-, ways faithful to her,. She stood aloneIn matters of ceremony Catharine was, of course, given the empty pride of place. Yet everybody knew that the true consort of Henri was Diane, says, an English reviewer. A CALCULATING FAVOURITE. Henri was barely forty, a man in the prime of life, while she was ageing. When their. Faison began he was a mere boy, and she was a mature woman, the widow of Louis de Breze, Grand Senechai of Normandy. She ostentatiously cherished the memory of her husband, wearing robes of black and white, and ended her days in the old manor of Anet, yvhere her husband had died—a manor, however, transformed into a magnificent chateau by Henri. What was the secret Of her charm? There are many mythological pictures depicting her as Diana the Huntress, a sylvan figure, lithe of limb, clean of line, wearing the crescent moon on her brow. But these .imaginative paintings, intended to flatter, are offset by the austere portraits of Clouet and his school, which depict her, as severe, commonplace, thin-lipped, and obviously calculating. Her correspondence shows her to be hard, businesslike, quite unr.omantic. A legend has been created round Diane which we should believe to be without foundation weite it not for the supreme fa c t that she was indeed the ruler of Henri, from his boyhood .till his death. THE ORIGIN OF “RIGOLETTO.”

Fuijther, she had an affair with the father of Henri—-the King F rancois I. Miss Henderson, who is kind! to her. heroine, seems to doubt this; connection, which has formed the theme of one of Victor Hugo’s most powerful plays, “Le ROi S’Amuse,” and of the popular opera,. "Rigoletto.” The father of known as Saint Vallier, was condemned for complicity in the treason of the Constable, Char,les de Bourbon. He was taken to the place of execution. The headspian raised his axe. The crowd stood breathless. Then there was an unaccountable pause. An hour went by, and on the scaffold still remained that strange group—-Saint Vallier kneeling, his head on the block, the headsman waiting for further oriders; the spectators restless and wondering. At last came the sound of galloping hoofs, and a horseman dashed into the Place de Greve, waving a green-sealed' document —the reprieve of Saint Vallier. How had it been obtained ? The story is now disputed, but it is re-, lated that Diane had pleadted with Franc.ois, and had paid for her father’s life with the .sacrifice of her own virtue. The picture stirs the imagination—the father, with bared neck, kneeling on the scaffold, the daughter kneeling before the lustful Sovereign. At last virtue is swallowed up in filial devotion, and the passion of ,the King masters his desire for vengeance. Henri was not the' heir to the throne when he' married the Floren-. tine Princess, Catharine, but by the violent death of his brothers he became the natural successor to his father. When Henri was Daphin—that is to say, the Crown Prince — there sprang; up a bitter, rivalry between Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of the son, and Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d’Etampes, the mistress of the father. Catharine cleverly effaced herself, leaving the two women to fight each other.

The weapons of Diane were feeble compared with those of the powerful Duchesse d’Etampes, and Diane was slandiered by a host of scribblers and had to submit to perpetual insults. But with the death, of. Francois and the accession of Henri 11. tjie tables wens turned; and Diane lost no time in driving the Duchas^ e from Court circles. THE COUP DID JARNAC. There was, howeven, a tragic, sequel to this feminine fig-lit. Diane had re--italiated bv spreading a libel to the effect that the Duchesse d’Etampes deceived King Francois with Guy Chabot, the Seigneur, fle Jariiac. Jarnae wished, to meet the self-appointed chamrjion of the King—a cavalier nam-ed La Chataigne^aae—in single CiOFabat to avenge the slander; out F'. ancois refused to permit the duel. When Francois - was no more; Henri and Diane encouraged the cobat, believing that Jarnac would, be killed. La Qhataigneraie was the most redoubtable swordsman of his day, and Jamac Was considered to be no match for hifn. The stage was elaborately s-et, and the whole Court looked on.

Though the result was thought a fore-, gone conclusion, Diane expected to enjoy the sport. But Jarnac had taken lessons from an Italian duellist, and had been taught a new .trick. He suddenly gave his opponent a blow that cut the tendons behind! the leaving the King’s proxy hamstrung and helpless. Jarnac offered to spare his adversary, but La. Chataigneraie, though crippled, insisted, in his rage, on continuing. Twice Jarnac endeavoured .to save him, but was eventually obliged to dispatch the infuriated champion. The Coup de, Jarnac remains the French expression for a surprise blow. THE FATAL TOURNEY.

Spectacular tournaments, were fated to bring ill-fortune to Henri and Diane. In his fortieth year Henri himself perished in a tournament. • The disgrace of Diane immediately followed the death of .her Royal lover. An old woman, she retired to Anet, and there died in 1566 at the age of sixty-.six. Miss Henderson not only recounts her history in a spirited manner, but casts interesting sidelights on many of .the personages of the epoch. Nor, does she omit to (inscribe the architectural and artistic, works which Diane inspired. There are a few minor lapses, but, on the whole, the curious career, of Diane is traced with knowledge, interest, and sympathy.